Vandalia Women’s Prison May Have Half of It’s Housing Units Permanently Closed Under Governor’s Budget Proposal

The women’s prison in Vandalia could have around half of it’s housing units permanently closed.

According to Trevor Foley, with the state Department of Corrections, Governor Parson’s 34.1 billion dollar budget for the fiscal year starting in July includes about 802 million for the Department of Corrections.

During a state House Budget Committee hearing this week Foley says some of the inmates at the Vandalia Women’s Prison have already been transferred to the women’s prison in Chillicothe.

According to Foley no one has lost their jobs, and there have been no layoffs.

Foley went on to say, “We have a significant capacity in our female beds. Our other female institution is probably arguably our best staffed institution in the state. So, we were able to consolidate spots into that facility and close roughly half of this one.”

A spokesperson for the State Corrections Department says the Vandalia prison has been battling major staffing shortages.

The Vandalia institution’s current population is roughly 772.